Excerpts

Chapter 1

Elliott sat at his mother's bedside, holding her hand and watching as she slept. He was frightened at how thin and gaunt she had become these past few months. He longed for her to wake up, but she needed her rest. Although he had never had many friends, he had been especially lonely since they came to New Orleans...Read more

Chapter 14

Elliott stood on a craggy shelf, well beneath the summit but just high enough to see the snow-dusted peaks rising in tier after tier behind him. He gazed across the vast range, trying to orient himself, and finally saw Mount Kalipharus, now a mere speck on the horizon. In the three weeks since escaping Harwelden, they had traveled far, and the mountain terrain seemed to grow wilder with every league of distance...Read more